Really, I believe 'single-use' is a misnomer. Most of my plastics get re-used. I re-use plastic wrap all the time. I re-use plastic baggies all the time (yes, I wash & sanitize them). The only times I don't re-use kitchen plastic wrap are if they touched meat or what was stored in it got moldy from sitting in the fridge too long. Other than that, it all gets re-used for as long as it remains viable. (An onion in the same plastic wrap easily gets used daily for a week or so until the onion is gone.)
Occasionally, I don't re-use plastic baggies or wrap, but because I am an avid re-user/ recycler, I believe that it makes up for the few times I do use only once. IMO single-use is a selective choice made by the consumer for convenience.
Many many things that come into my home are re-purposed for soap making or other things. Most plastic containers that foods comes in are later used to store small portions of solid oils, or small soap embeds, or whatever I need them for at the moment. I also use baby spoons that I bought at the Goodwill in a packet to measure out and mix colorants. I use whatever works for storing my curing/cured soaps, usually free or from a thrift store purchase. For example, I get cardboard box tops from stores (grocery & other stores) that I line with plastic mesh (purchased at reduced prices in thrift stores) to cure soap. But I also have some plastic soda can trays and plastic serving trays that I use as well. They all work and they were all either free or very cheap. When it is time to let these items go for whatever reason, they have been well and repeatedly used, cleaned and then put into the appropriate container for recycle pick-up if still viable for the recycle industry or donated when appropriate.
My first slab mold was a paperboard boot box lined with freezer paper. My first more permanent small slab mold was/is a bamboo box sold as a drawer insert (approximately $6.00 at Target). My most oft-used small batch (4 bars) mold is a wooden file box I bought at Goodwill for $1.88 or maybe is was $2.88 - I no longer recall, with a hinged lid. Very sturdy and great for insulating those small batches because it's made with nice thick oak, not the thin balsa wood type of file box that I used for awhile until the lye ate away at the wood & I had to toss it.
I save paper (always have, it's a thing, I come from a large family, lots of kids, artists, frugal, etc.) from everywhere and reuse it in whatever capacity it is useful. Shipping paper in deliveries is useful for wrapping soap or lining trays or at the very least to re-use in shipping soap. In the old days it was used for art projects or to wrap gifts or to line shelves, or whatnot.
Because I travel so much I often make soap while traveling, I have often used the wrapping paper that individual roles of T.P. comes in at the hotels for wrapping bars to transport while I travel to my next destination, or to wrap so I can mail it home to myself to later wrap and label once I get back home. When I mail soap to my family, I toss in desiccant packets to help maintain a low moisture package. Also while traveling, sometimes there is no stove for CPOP, and soap insulation to encourage gel can be a problem: A solution is to wrap it up really well, and keep it in a dresser drawer. This works very well for some recipes. Plus it keeps the soap out of the way when housekeeping comes in to clean.
I use plastic cutting board material & plastic place mats not only as custom sized cutting boards (good while traveling, too), but also as custom soap loaf sliders for use in a soap cutter, and also for sitting a loaf on to rest for awhile before it can be cut.
For convenient clean-up, my worktable is covered with oil-cloth-like plastic coated outdoor picnic table 'cloths', then atop that I spread out old towels so any soap spills are absorbed into the towels & I can also use them for clean-up at the end of the soaping session. They get changed out after use & sit with others until my next load of like laundry. I keep my scale on a wooden cutting board to maintain a level surface & wrap it in plastic to prevent damage from spills. I cover my scales with plastic wrap and also fold or cut a paper towel to fit to protect from spills.
Colorant spills are easily cleaned up with alcohol spray. Super easy clean up. I keep alcohol spray at the ready at all times in the kitchen, as well as in the laundry room (it's good for removing permanent marker as well.)
Chopsticks are great for stirring all kinds of things, as well as for pouring from uncooperative bottles and easily obtained when we get take-out. They are also useful to suspend infusion bags when I rubberband 2 together on one end and wrap the string through the two sticks. (A trick I use all the time when making large containers of iced tea.)
To ensure the temperature of my stove for CPOP, I check the temperature, not only with an oven thermometer that lives in the over, but also with my infrared thermometer, which I point at the oven walls to test prior to putting the soap inside the oven. I also determined what setting to use (which is actually a little to the left of the lowest setting on the dial) to get my desired oven temp for CPOP) and for a while kept a piece of masking tape at that spot so I could always repeat the process with accuracy.
Speaking of masking tape, I use it all the time for labeling my soaping activities. Trays of cut soap are labeled with the date the soap was made & my method of identifying each soap. Soaping vessels are permanently labeled with their empty weight in grams and ounces so I can refer and deduct weights should it ever be necessary (it isn't very often, but sometimes.) Containers of supplies (cocoa butter, soy wax, palm oil, whatever I may be storing in smaller portions) are labeled using masking tape & permanent marker with weights at the time of storage. I also use it to label stuff I store in the freezer and the refrigerator (a long-time habit learned in my past life as a hospital nurse). Masking tape cut in the shape of an elongated triangle to point to my heat sealer's best heat setting ensures I can easily return to that setting when it gets accidentally moved (which happens when it is moved to storage, for example.)
Corrugated plastic is a good substitute for corrugated cardboard for a longer lasting mold insert (I've also done the plastic-wrapped cardboard) or Taiwan swirl tool with skewers inserted into the corrugations. Inverted cardboard boxes are wonderful insulation for soap that needs insulation, and I can often find the perfect size needed at any given time in my recycling stash, or I can cut it down as needed. Cardboard lids or custom cut pieces are perfect for lining cooking trays inside the oven during CPOP to protect the inner surfaces from soap spillage, as well as an inverted box to cover the soaps while inside the oven. There is NO fire risk in a turned-off electric oven, but I would be more concerned if I had a gas oven with a pilot light. I custom cut cardboard to use for tops of my loaf molds & re-use them for along time, as is, not wrapped in anything at all.
The list goes on and on. But that's more than enough for now.
